Hawaii-Day 4

It will be a stinking miracle if I blog about our entire Hawaii trip, especially since I'm severely behind on Family History Friday, kids updates, and...the millions of other projects outside of blogging that need to be attended to. But, for now, I'll concentrate on day 4 of our fabulous trip and hopefully while I'm immersed in beautiful Island photos, I'll forget all about my "to do" list for a few moments!

Day 4 was booked with a bus tour around the Island which was fun and relaxing especially since my dear husband didn't have to drive and I didn't have to navigate along with the annoying GPS lady. We just sat back and relaxed on our bus while listening to our tour guide/bus driver rattle off tidbits of information about the Island and every so often we pulled over for photo opportunities and pit stops. DJ and I particularly enjoyed the full day of near silence in a vehicle (something that rarely happens in our Toyota Sienna! Some of the stops we made along the way were Turtle Bay, Hanauma Bay, the blow hole, Chinaman's Hat, Kualoa Ranch, The Macadamia Nut Farm, Valley of the Temples, Dole Pineapple Plantation, North Shore to name a few. It was another extremely windy day so I guess we picked a good day to spend the day viewing the Island from a bus. It really is a beautiful Island with so much to see and I could've taken pictures of just about everything. I really wanted to video tape the entire trip and take it home to my kids so they could be a little part of it but I'm praying that we'll get the opportunity to take them someday.

Believe it or not, we weren't the youngest people on this bus!

Hanauma Bay- We later went snorkeling here where we swam right by two big turtles!

This was Pali lookout on Pali Highway which provided a gorgeous panaramic view of the windward coast of Oahu. The wind was out of control that day, I think our tour guide mentioned 50 mph which explains the crazy hair-do. My glasses literally blew off of my face. DJ and I were laughing our heads off as we tried to snap photos in the hurricane.

Mom got back on the bus after being out in the wind and everyone was laughing at her crazy hair (including me) sorry mom, like I had any room to talk! She was a good sport as you can tell by the photo!

This was a pretty stop, the lighthouse directly in back of DJ was fun to see and I just couldn't get over the beautiful blue color of the ocean!

Next stop was the Valley of the Temples, a beautiful valley located at the foot of the 2,000 foot Koolau Mountains. We visited the Byodo-In Temple where we took a turn ringing the gong, we passed over a little bridge where there were 100's of fish below waiting to be fed. We removed our shoes before entering the temple, I took a few photos inside (I wonder if that was okay) and then spent a little while wandering around enjoying the beautiful view. I really enjoy learning about what other people believe so I really enjoyed this stop.

Next stop, Macadamia Nut Farm. One word, YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really, I am a little obsessed with Macadamia Nuts so I was giddy when the tour guide said we would be making this stop and added that we would be able to sample many flavors while wandering through the gift shop. Well, he wasn't kidding, we passed through a long line with little bowls full of the yummiest coatings you've ever tasted, caramel, toffee, garlic (not my favorite), honey roasted, sugar. chocolate, etc. I guess I could've purchased my souvenirs at this little shop but resisted because you can actually purchase the same size bag for a couple of dollars cheaper at the flea market, Walmart, or the infamous ABC stores which I spent way too much time in, by the way!

Day 4 isn't over...I'm just out of time....more to come tomorrow (hopefully)